After witnessing the murder of his parents and siblings, Morris Matadi was recruited as a child soldier in the Liberian civil war. One day he managed to put down his rifle and fled. But the horror of war did not end there: he kept returning to the battlefield with vivid nightmares and experienced other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as anger attacks. All this in a context where these warriors, who once lived by their own rules, became the black sheep of society once the war ended.

In this episode, we rejoin Liberian journalist Carielle Doe to explore the war wounds that are invisible but take longer to heal. A wound that not only deeply scars the lives of ex-combatants, but of Liberian society, which today struggles to confront its past.

With original reporting and editing by Carielle Doe in Monrovia, Liberia. Marta Rodriguez Martinez, Naira Davlashyan, Lillo Montalto Monella & Arwa Barkallah in Lyon, Mame Peya Diaw in Nairobi, Lory Martinez in Paris, France and Clizia Sala in London, UK. Production Design by Studio Ochenta. Hosted by Danielle Olavario. Theme by Gabriel Dalmasso. Special thanks to Peya Mame and Natalia Oelsner for collecting the music for this episode. Our editor-in-chief is Yasir Khan.

In this episode, we used music by Liberian artist Faith Vonic. You can find out more about her music in her Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts.

For more information on Cry Like a Boy, a Euronews original series and podcast, go to Euronews.com to find opinion pieces, videos, and articles on the topic. If you’re a French speaker, this podcast is also available in French: Dans la tête des hommes.

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The soldiers in Liberia: The invisible wound